I started in the business in a mutual fund call center right out of college in 1999 (DVD players were all the rage, Y2K panic was a thing and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” was on). At that point, average annual returns were high for the S&P 500 and most mutual funds—until the bubble burst.

Physical gold continued to catch a bid this week, trading above $1,760 an ounce, on a host of head-spinning economic news, from millions more Americans filing jobless claims to record money-printing to negative oil prices.

What is the value of a financial advisor in 2020? We believe financial advisors have never been more valuable than they are right now. This annual Value of an Advisor study quantifies that dedication and the resulting benefit.

Closed-end funds are currently trading at a discount as equity markets have dropped. Here’s where to spot opportunities.

Gold and gold stocks are among the highest performing assets of 2020 so far as investors seek a haven amid the coronavirus-fueled rout, and as central banks and governments around the world roll out unprecedented monetary and fiscal measures in an effort to mitigate the economic impact of the “Great Lockdown.”

While the COVID-19 crisis is far from over, we expect central bank and government policies to be key to performance in the second quarter.

Those whose work focuses on two other components of wellbeing – emotional and financial – are not risking their lives caring for their clients. Yet their worlds look very different today than they did a few weeks ago.

They say the pandemic has only strengthened their convictions and the performance of sustainable portfolios should vindicate their strategy.

Advisors had little use for actively managed funds over the recent bull market; index funds did exceptionally well. But just when those actively managed funds were most needed – over the recent market downturn – they failed to protect investors.

Vanguard Group and Ant Financial’s joint venture is rolling out a new robo advisor to target the Chinese fintech giant’s 900 million users.

The star fund manager is famous for the power he wields in the market — and for making bets that other investors shy away from.

Ed Rosenburg, American Century’s head of ETFs, sees opportunity.

According to John Sheehan, the recent selloff in Investment Grade fixed income was exacerbated by technical factors. In his view, regulatory changes implemented after the 2008 crisis removed a critical shock absorbing mechanism that caused spreads to spike.

Even with all the benefits attributable to closed-end funds—intraday trading, low financing costs of leverage, ability to be fully invested, and consistent source of income—they have some idiosyncrasies that present challenges, especially during extreme volatility

Most ETFs focused on companies with above-average marks for environmental, social and governance practices have outperformed this year.

Sierra Mutual Funds Chief Investment Officer Terri Spath's latest market commentary discusses when might be a good time to buy, and the importance of using a time-tested process, like the one used at Sierra and Ocean Park.

There are three key areas where the allocation requirements of passive fixed-income vehicles have an impact on the market.

The rally gained force after the White House and the Senate reached an agreement on a massive package of spending and tax breaks in a bid to prevent the swift shutdown of much of America’s economy from leading to a deep, prolonged recession.

Liquidity could remain challenged, but valuations may be attractive for long-term investors.

Putting income into a college savings account is a no-brainer. Like anything, the execution requires planning and financial expertise.

We entered into the current crisis with a whole financial system that had been incentivized by policymakers to take on excessive levels of debt and leverage. The turmoil we are seeing right now is the result of the unwinding of this leverage.

These extreme measures appear to be having great success, particularly in Asian countries. Whereas the number of cases continues to rise in Italy, Spain, Iran and elsewhere, the number has begun to stabilize, if not plateau, in Asian countries.

Markets often overshoot, and just because things are cheap doesn’t mean they can’t get cheaper.

In an incredible reversal, investors pulled a record $12.2 billion out of municipal-bond mutual funds.

Municipal closed-end funds (“CEFs”) currently offer high levels of tax advantaged income and can often be purchased at a discount to their current net asset value.

In a move that has bewildered many CFPs, the CFP Board of Standards took a giant step backward in transparency. It chose to no longer inform consumers searching for a CFP of advisors' compensation models.

Compared to past viral outbreaks, COVID-19 appears to be less fatal, yet it has received far more media coverage. Paradoxically, that may be part of the reason why it’s had a much bigger impact on public health and the economy relative to those other diseases.

The tax drag from fund distributions can be bigger than the alpha of a top-performing manager and considerably larger than the difference in fees between funds.

Warren Buffett boosted his stake in Delta Air Lines by 976,000 shares last week, raising his total holdings to 17.9 million shares. This was enough to bring Buffett’s ownership of Delta up to more than 11 percent.

What software programs are advisory firms using, and what is the market share of each program in each category?

Limited supply and high demand for high-yield municipal bonds may adversely impact an investor’s financial position. Plan now for potential client conversations about exposure to lower quality tax-exempt securities.

Legendary investor and mentor to many investing greats Benjamin Graham once aptly stated that: “investing is most intelligent when it is most businesslike.” Personally, I agree which is why I refer to what I personally adhere to and practice with my own investing as “business perspective investing.”

On how the investment industry commercialized “socially responsible investing,”
On how financial marketers built a mythology around the analytical tool ‘ESG,’
On how the United Nations abetted the sale of private profit as public good,
And why these triumphs of free enterprise obstruct progress on climate change.

Gold mining stocks have broken out, with several hitting new 52-week highs this week. Gold royalty and streaming companies, including Franco-Nevada and Wheaton Precious Metals, also hit fresh 52-week highs.

For many investors, the beginning of the year is a time for them to review their investing strategies and reassess their risk tolerance. Though the U.S. stock markets have been on an incredible run last year, recent polls of economists and American voters indicate great concern about a looming recession.

Advisors Asset Management (AAM) is a leading provider of income-generating investment solutions. It entered the ETF market in 2017 and offers investors an innovative high dividend value strategy across domestic, emerging and international developed markets. These ETFs focus on income and value, seeking to help investors meet their current cash flow and future capital appreciation goals.

So far in 2020, the yield on the 10-year Treasury has averaged 0.01 percent when adjusted for inflation. Since the end of January, it’s actually dipped below 0 percent, trading as low as negative 0.14 percent on January 31.

While red may be the color of the day, it’s a color investors have not seen from most asset classes over the last twelve months. For example, the S&P 500 rose ~26% and investment-grade bonds gained ~14%. However, just as in a healthy relationship, we cannot take this excellent performance for granted and become complacent about the future returns we expect to come our way.

Annuities can reduce the risk of running out of money in retirement, but they protect against this risk in different ways. I’ll compare retirement outcomes of SPIAs to GLWBs to understand the key product differences.

The past decade has been one for the record books. There has been unprecedented change in almost every aspect of life including technology, transportation, politics, etc.

You can build the best portfolio for your clients, but if they don’t stay invested, their chances of reaching their goals will be diminished.

Two topics seemed to dominate at this year’s Inside ETFs conference: the rise of ESG investing, and the emergence of so-called “nontransparent” ETFs. Both promise some big changes to financial markets.

As we head into 2020, municipal bonds will likely remain attractive for many tax-sensitive investors, but their performance potential could prove to be relatively muted compared to 2019, according to Sheila Amoroso, director of our Municipal Bond Department.

Every instance of financial speculation today is termed a “bubble”, but true financial bubbles are rarer than most investors believe and they go beyond the financial markets and pervade society.

The problem isn’t that market timing never works. The problem is that it works just enough to give you hope, but not enough to improve performance over the long-term.

Has passive investing helped drive the outperformance of mega-cap stocks?

Will 2020 be more of the same? Our teams are encouraged by differences they see in the new year; but they remain alert for unexpected downturns.

Markets appear to expect the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates steady during 2020. In this environment, we think the outflows seen in leveraged loan mutual funds are likely to abate, and possibly change directions.

Expect a steeper yield curve, according to Jeffrey Gundlach. Investors should be “defensive” with respect to long-term bonds. Gold will go up, inflation will be subdued, there is a 30% to 35% chance of recession and – his “highest conviction” idea – the dollar will weaken. His most surprising prediction was who will be the Democratic nominee.

Let’s walk through the first 20 years of the new millennium and the lessons for the next 20 years.